The effects of Garcinia kola and curcumin on the dorsal root ganglion of the diabetic rat after peripheral nerve transection injury.

OBJECTIVE: To test the protective effects of Garcinia kola and curcumin on the ganglion tissues of diabetic rats following the use of autologous vein graft in peripheral nerve transection injury. METHODS: The sciatic nerve on the right side was transected, and anastomosis was performed between the proximal and distal ends using an autologous vein graft. Curcumin and Garcinia kola seed extract were administered daily by oral gavage. The ganglion tissues were harvested after a 90-day waiting period. Sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglion at the L4 and L5 levels were used for stereological evaluations. Mean sensory neuron numbers were analyzed using a stereological technique. The size of the light and dark neurons was also estimated, and ultrastructural and immunohistochemical evaluations were performed. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference in sensory neuron numbers was observed between the groups with and without Garcinia kola and curcumin applications. The immunohistochemical results showed that the s-100 protein is expressed selectively between cell types. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that curcumin and Garicinia kola prevented sensory neuron loss in diabetic rats following transection injury to the sciatic nerve.

Effects of cepae extract, allantoin, and heparin mixture on developing andalready formed epidural fibrosis in a rat laminectomy model.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The study was designed to investigate whether local administration of a mixture composed of cepae extract, allantoin, and heparin (CAH) decreased already formed epidural fibrosis (EF) at the laminectomy site. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four adult male Sprague Dawley rats were equally divided into four groups. Laminectomy was performed at the L5 level in all rats. The group 2 and group 4 rats were treated with local drug administration. While the group 1 and 2 rats were sacrificed after 6 weeks, the remaining rats were reoperated and CAH mixture was applied in group 4. The vertebral columns of all rats were removed en bloc. Fibroblast numbers, EF, and arachnoidal involvement (AI) were evaluated. RESULTS: The results of the treatment groups were separately compared with the control groups. The numbers of fibroblasts in the treatment groups were significantly lower than those in the control groups (P < 0.001). The grade of EF in group 2 was significantly less than that in group 1 (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference regarding EF and AI grade between group 3 and group 4, and local application of the drug on EF and AI yielded better results than in the control groups. CONCLUSION: The mixture composed of CAH might be a successful candidate for preventing EF in clinical practice.

Anticancer effect of a novel palladium-saccharinate complex of terpyridine by inducing apoptosis on Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) in Balb-C mice.

BACKGROUND/AIM: [Pd(sac)(terpy)](sac)•4H2O (sac=saccharinate and terpy=2,2':6',2"-terpyridine) is newly-synthesized palladium(II) (Pd) complex. We investigated the antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of this complex on Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: EAC cells were administered to 33 Balb/c mice. Mice were divided randomly into four groups: control, cisplatin, Pd(II) complex and paclitaxel. Control group animals received 0.9% NaCl; other groups received treatments cisplatin, Pd(II) complex and paclitaxel on days 7 and 12. At day 14, animals were sacrificed. Expression of active caspase-3, p53 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was investigated and apoptosis was evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase (TdT)-mediated nick-end labelling (TUNEL) technique. RESULTS: Expression of p53 and PCNA were found to be decreased (p<0.0001), cells with active caspase-3 and TUNEL-positive cells were found to be increased (p<0.0001) in all treatment groups. CONCLUSION: Like cisplatin and paclitaxel, this Pd(II) complex has a strong anticancer activity against EAC by inducing apoptosis and suppressing proliferation in vivo.

The effects of ankaferd blood stopper and microporous polysaccharide hemospheres on epidural fibrosis in rat laminectomy model.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether topically administered hemostatic agents ankaferd blood stopper and microporous polysaccharide hemospheres can decrease epidural fibrosis after laminectomy in rats. METHODS: Eighteen adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were equally and randomly divided into three groups. In the treatment groups, ankaferd blood stopper and microporous polysaccharide hemospheres topically administrated upon duramater surface after laminectomy. Fibroblast count, epidural fibrosis and arachnoidal involvement were evaluated and graded histopathologically. RESULTS: Our data revealed that the count of fibroblasts, the grading of epidural fibrosis and arachnoideal involvement in the rats treated with microporous polysaccharide hemospheres were significantly less than the control group. Although the arachnoideal involvement in ankaferd blood stopper group were significantly less than the control group, there were no statistical differences when comparing the grading of epidural fibrosis and the fibroblasts count between the treatment groups and the control group. CONCLUSION: The ankaferd blood stopper and microporous polysaccharide hemospheres reduced epidural fibrosis and arachnoideal involvement after laminectomy in rats.

Histological changes in the uterus of the hens after embryonic exposure to bisphenol A and diethylstilbestrol.

Many employed chemicals in industries have estrogenic hormone effects on organisms, and these are called as environmental estrogens. Environmental estrogens have adverse effects on development and function of reproductive organs of the birds. Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the best known environmental estrogens widely found in plastic products. In this study, we injected BPA and the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) in ovo and then examined and compared the effects of those on the uteri (shell gland) of the adult hens by histological methods. Five groups have been designed in the current study. Only vehicle substance was given in ovo to the control group and BPA (67 or 134 µg/g egg) and DES (0.02 or 0.2 µg/g egg) were administered in the experimental groups. Tissue specimens were taken from uteri of hens at 21 weeks of age, prior to the laying period. Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) was immunohistochemically stained. It was observed that the hatching proportion in BPA (67 µg and 134 µg/g) was lesser than the other groups (P<0.01). Uterine tubular glandular density and thickness of tunica mucosa were found to have reduced (P<0.01) in BPA (134 µg/g) and DES (0.2 µg/g) groups, in comparison with those of the control and the other experimental groups. Uterine gland epithelium revealed positive immunoreaction for ERα. These findings suggested that administration of BPA and DES at high doses affected embryonic development in a negative way, and this adverse effect was seen less in adult period.